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“It’s a White Industry. It Just Is: One Black Man’s Big Hollywood Adventure”
Chris Rock
Chris Rock wrote this essay in 2014 (December 3rd) for The Hollywood Reporter. It is noted for being a “blistering” article.
Rock does not hold back starting with the title. He claims it’s a white industry.
He starts the article describing his experience in Hollywood. He knows that if Eddie Murphy, then the biggest star in the world, had not given him a chance, his ascension may not have happened. Rock also notes that Keenan Wayans and Arsenio Hall giving him chances as well.
Chris Rock
A statement that is emblematic of the essay is Rock’s comment on how he would give chances to white people and African Americans. However, in Hollywood he know that white people will have other white people take chances on them. For those of African descent, he knows that typically it is ONLY other Black people that will take chances on them.
He notes a few of the people he assisted: Wanda Sykes, J.B. Smoove, and Leslie Jones. With Jones, he mentions that she didn’t have what others would call the right connections, “she didn’t go to Second City, she doesn’t do stand-up at The Cellar, and she’s not in with Judd Apatow.” (1)
Chris Rock
Wanda Sykes
Chris Rock
J. B. Smoove
Chris Rock
Leslie Jones
Chris Rock
Rock believed that Jones was the real deal. He called four of the biggest managers in comedy and they all refused him. It wasn’t until a few years later, after he had told Lorne Michaels about her, that others got it but by then it was too late.
He mentors other young comics as well as keeps track of those he would like to work with such as Steve McQueen.
He claims that the type of Black people hired in Hollywood tend to be Black women with Ivy League educations. He hopes that his daughters will have those credential but knows that because of that they may not be the strongest candidates to run a Black division in entertainment.
Chris Rock
Rock’s description of the hypothetical jobs his daughters could be offered continues to delineate Hollywood’s whiteness. They would be heading the Black division of something not a more general executive position.
Based on his own experience, he observes Hollywood does not hire Black men in executive positions especially if that man has base in his voice.
He discusses the more subtle racism in Hollywood. While you probably won’t be called the N-word, “but just an acceptance that there's a slave state in L.A.” (1)
Chris Rock
For Rock, part of this slave state is: “There's this acceptance that Mexicans are going to take care of white people in L.A. that doesn't exist anywhere else.” (1)
He goes onto state “You're telling me no Mexicans are qualified to do anything at a studio? Really? Nothing but mop up? What are the odds that that's true? The odds are, because people are people, that there's probably a Mexican David Geffen mopping up for somebody's company right now. The odds are that there's probably a Mexican who's that smart who's never going to be given a shot.” (1)
Chris Rock
He points to the obvious racism inherent in executive positions are almost exclusively white and male and then he goes onto to examine other positions.
“This is a system where only white people can chime in on that [for Rock that are the jobs that are really just about taste, not levels of education or technological know how]. There would be a little naivete to sitting around and going, "Oh, no black person has ever greenlighted a movie," but those other jobs? You're kidding me, right? They don't even require education. When you're on the lower levels, they're just about taste, nothing else. And you don't have to go to Harvard to have taste.”
Chris Rock
Rock makes general observation about the industry. He believes there isn’t a lot of difference between white and African American audiences except the later group does not itself represented that often
He notes that many women went to see the Sex and the City films because they knew that Hollywood rarely makes these types of films and they didn’t care what critics said. And as we know most of the film critics are male and often savage female lead films.
He talks about the challenges of creating opportunities for college students to learn about comedy but economics being a hurdle. Many at traditionally Black colleges and universities cannot afford to intern without being paid.
Chris Rock
He observation about crossing over is important. He declares that Kevin Hart is the biggest thing in comedy at that time. Hart plays to 40,000 seats while John Stewart plays to 3,000. Yet it is Hart that is supposed to cross over because his audience is Black.
He posits that Black films are now expected to make money, though the fiction in the past was that these films did not make money when they did. And when films have Black leads, they are judged more harshly.
He feels that Black films made at studios often operate on stereotype. Rock’s film Top Five had been released and he states he could not have made his film at a studio; a studio would have made his film into a mediocre or bad comedy.
Chris Rock
His discussion of casting in Hollywood continues his criticism of the industry. He states that Hollywood will either cast a Black man or not, but they are never on a short list. Regarding Black women, he argues that they are not considered at all even though it would not impact the plots/narratives of most films.
“I go to the movies almost every week, and I can go a month and not see a black woman having an actual speaking part in a movie. That's the truth.” (1)
Chris Rock
While things have changed in Hollywood, such as more respected Black actors, bias still exists.
His example is being offered the role of Huggy Bear not Starsky or Hutch.
Rock ends the essay talking about how change manifested in presidential candidates. When Jesse Jackson ran, he didn’t expect to become president; he wanted to shake things up. When Barack Obama ran for president, it was to be president. And no one stopped him.
